Duluth police said two boys, Jaquez and Zailan Blue, have been found safe and their dad, John Daniel Blue, arrested for their alleged abduction Thursday morning in Duluth.

Duluth Police

For several hours local, state and federal officers were searching for a Duluth man who allegedly abducted his two children as they were about to be taken away by the state Thursday morning.

Shortly before 11 p.m., police said the children, 10-year-old Zailan Blue and his 14-year-old brother Jaquez Blue were found safe in Greenville, SC. And their dad, 55-year-old John Daniel Blue, has been taken into custody, according to media reports.

The incident happened around 10:30 a.m. after a worker from the Division of Family and Children Services visited the home on Bedfort Drive, according to Duluth police. The employee had shown up at the home with the intention of taking the children, major Jacquelyn Hood said.

The parents and the two children were home when the woman arrived, Hood said. But the father took the two children and placed them in his vehicle, she said.

The DFACS worker got back into her vehicle and the man allegedly struck her vehicle several times until he managed to push it out of the way and then sped off, police said. It's unclear why DFACS wanted to take the children and police have declined to comment on whether officers have responded to the home before.

But based on the circumstances, police believed the children were in danger and issued a Levi's Call for the missing brothers.

"The children were going to be taken into DFACS custody," Det. Bobby Johnson said. "I don't believe DFACS would take them unless they were in danger."

But their dad told Channel 2 Action News said the woman never identified herself and that she was the one who struck his vehicle.

Blue reportedly drove the children to his mother's home in South Carolina and then returned to Georgia where he was arrested, the news station reported.

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Former police reporter for The State newspaper, Kimathi T. Lewis left her mark in print with stories that evoked community support and a column that helped capture dozens of fugitives. This award-winning reporter with a B.A. in Journalism can be reached at naturekleen@msn.com.